"Washington state filed an environmental lawsuit on Thursday against agricultural company Monsanto Co seeking damages and cleanup costs associated with the company's production of PCBs, the state's attorney general said.

Monsanto produced the polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, "for decades while hiding what they knew about the toxic chemicals' harm to human health and the environment," Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement.

St. Louis-based Monsanto, whose products include genetically modified crop seeds and pesticides, said the lawsuit, which was filed in King County Superior Court, lacked merit."

Eric Beech reports for Reuters December 8, 2016. [2]